Skip to main content

Side Trip

You know why I love about Florida?  I love the sensation of being wrapped in a wet, warm beach towel every time I go out the door.  I also kind of like how flat it is here.  It takes virtually no effort to walk from place to place.  I mean, yeah, you're dripping with sweat by the time you get there; but you're not frickin' mountain climbing up Madison.  Madison and James seriously need some fixed ropes installed, but that's besides the point.

Today I was walking to an outlet mall, because it was only 2.6 miles away.  That's like a hop, skip, and a jump.  Anyway, I was almost there, dying to sit down in the shade and drink something cool, when I stumbled on the most unlikely place.

Well, hello there.

I saw signs along the way that said "Queen Mary Shrine," but it wasn't until I was standing in front of a huge sign that said "Mary, Queen of the Universe Shrine," that it struck me.  This wasn't some oddly named hotel, this was an actual shrine.  This fascinated me mostly because I've never heard a Catholic church referred to as a shrine before.  

Saul on the road to Damascus

Stained glass detail


Main cathedral

Front entry way

No idea

Check out that stained glass!

"My soul glorifies the Lord."
My Latin is not as rusty as I thought.

My unplanned visit turned out to be the highlight of my day.  I looooooove the architecture and all the statues.  Especially Saul against the backdrop of palm trees.  Just wow.

----------------------------

I know I haven't been posting a whole lot lately, but that doesn't mean I haven't been writing.  I've been working on a series of short stories that I've dubbed "Ramen in Common."  The whole thing keeps kind of skidding sideways, so I doubt any of it will ever see the light of day, except for the very first story, Distraction, which I already posted on here.

Other than that, I've been playing with dolls, basically.  I'm a little addicted to Episode Interactive right now, and I've been scripting The Culling into it.  If you have an iPhone or an Android, you can check it out here.  It's been challenging since EI caters mostly to Romance and Drama.  I've had to significantly cut down on the action because there aren't any weapons.  I also had to replace their SUV with  a . . . er, pink car.  It's been transformative.  

Oh, before I forget: I'm still posting bits of Egregious on my other webpage.  Check out this week's installment: The Enchiridion.

Popular posts from this blog

Short Story: Distraction

It was an office, not unlike any of the other offices around the city. There were windows, visible to the lucky few cubes on the ends of the rows. Then there was Vera's cube, situated next to the row of manager's offices. Today she was lucky, someone had left their door open and precious slant of sunlight escaped, warming her back and washing out half of her computer screen. "I never realized your hair was red," Tracy dumped a large stack of paper on her desk, "The florescent lights make everything look so soupy." "What is that?" she pointed at the stack of paper. Tracy only offered compliments when he wanted a favor. "I need this entered," he smiled, a dimple appearing in his cheek. "You have a secretary," Vera waved a freckled hand to her left, "Ask him." "He's sick," Tracy gave her puppy-dog eyes, batting his long dark eyelashes. Vera sighed and fought back a smile. Tracy was such a s...
Read more

Poetry and Stuff

Grief:Peripheral The flicker of bluish light filters out what is missing; there is only one set of boots by the door, an apple sits on the counter uneaten, and even if you don’t make a sound, the notch in your heart is nothing personal. ____________________________ Yeah, I know I said no poetry, but I lied. From The Culling, because what girl doesn't dream of  owning a library with a ladder?  I just posted the last chapter of The Bond, which I'm not 100% satisfied with.  It is the end of this novella, but the story continues in the next book of the series.  One of my biggest problems is I don't have a title for the next novella.  The working title was "The Break," which doesn't really work.  If you have an idea or two, throw 'em in the comments.  
Read more

The things people say

1. "I don't know. I don't know what you do." (In response to me asking, "Why would I have a blowup doll?") 2. "What are you saying? I can mouse with my right hand." (From a lefty after he was accused of moving the mouse to the left side of the computer.) 3. "I (hic) gave this girl my (hic) my phone number (hic) and she (hic) she never called (hic) called me." 4. "You're hurting me!" "I'm stabbing your coat." "With a knife!" "So?" "Knives hurt people!" 
Read more